Cooking with curry's multiple personalities

Once upon a time, if you mentioned curry in the kitchen in this country, it was a reference to a turmeric-based powder with origins based in India.

Massaman Curry.

Turns out that curry, which ultimately is a generic term for sauces made from diluted paste or seasoned with a variety spices, is produced in myriad countries in Southeast Asia and points north to the shadows of the Himalayas.

Next to Indian cuisine, Thai cuisine has helped carry curry to new heights in popularity in this country. And in Oklahoma City, thanks to a fortified and bona fide Asian populace, all that one needs to make Thai curry is available in one stop. (The same can be said of the Indian populace and its brand of curry, but that's another column.)

Both Chinatown Supermarket and Super Cao Nguyen Market have everything one needs to make Thai curry from scratch, so I summoned the knowledge of Cao Nguyen co-owner Ba Luong to find and clarify what I needed to make a nice Massaman Curry.

First, a word about Massaman. This yellow curry dappled with cashews and/or peanuts is the only Thai curry that has much relationship with the Indian version. And that binding ingredient is turmeric.

Cao Nguyen offers turmeric in the standard powder form but also in root form.

He also explained that whether you choose fresh or powdered turmeric, you need gloves and something to protect your clothes unless you want yellow streaks on your hands and duds. When folks like me think of Indian curry flavor, the flavor we're thinking of is turmeric. In Massaman, the amount of turmeric is small enough that it lends more color than flavor.

That's probably because of the coconut milk, which is to Thai curry what turmeric is to Indian curry — pervasive.

Coconut milk is the silky, soothing element that makes a mouthful of fire into a mouthful of “gimme some more.” It is the great statesman that calms fiery Thai chilies into stars that shine rather than burn.

For this curry, you'll also need basics like garlic, shallots, potatoes, chicken and stock. But then there's the lemon grass, fish sauce, shrimp paste that you either don't understand or don't want to understand.

But understand you must if you are to muster mastery over Massaman or any other Thai curry because they are just as common to the technique as coconut milk.

Lemon grass is like bamboo that never got out of adolescence.

It's a long stalk with woody qualities, but not stout enough to skewer beef or use as a torture device. It imparts a fragrant, faintly sour flavor that attained it a name associated with lemons.

The ultrasharp chef's knife I acquired at Culinary Kitchen seemed better equipped to mince a metatarsal bone than a stalk of lemon grass.

“You need to use the handle-end of your knife to pound the lemon grass down before you mince it,” Luong said. “Or you can find frozen minced lemon grass in our freezer section.”

“The first pressing is the most flavorful, the most nuanced,” Luong said. “It's also the most expensive. The least expensive fish sauces come from the bottom of the barrel, and are very salty. They're good; they just don't offer nuanced flavor.”

• Simmer until chicken and potatoes are cooked through, about 30 minutes. You can lower temperature and continue to simmer up to an hour. Be sure to add more stock or starchy water if the curry becomes too thick.

• Add Thai chilies and tomato slices during last 10 minutes of cooking.